Car battery registration, also known as battery adaptation, is a programming procedure that informs your vehicle's electrical system that a new car battery has been installed. It's important for modern cars (like Audi, Volkswagen, and BMW) with advanced battery monitoring and start/stop systems.
If you changed your car battery, you can adapt it using OBDeleven. Here's how:
Registering a car battery for Volkswagen Group (VAG) vehicles
You’ll need:
PRO VAG or ULTIMATE VAG subscription (you can read which is better option for you here)
OBDeleven VAG mobile app
Now, the steps are different for VAG vehicles with the KWP2000 protocol and VAG models with the UDS protocol.
Registering a car battery for VAG vehicles with the KWP2000 protocol
Plug the device into your car's OBD2 port and connect your smartphone via Bluetooth.
Open the list of control units.
Scroll down to find the control unit called “Battery Regulation” and click on it.
Select "Long Adaptation," enter channel number 4 and hit “Done.”
Tap on the "Value” field to insert your battery information. Input the first three digits for battery capacity, followed by a space.
Add the three symbols for the manufacturer code, another space, and the 10-digit serial number. That's it!
If your new battery is different from the old one, go back to the “Battery Regulation” control unit and select “Long Coding.” Update the battery type to the correct one, then slide right to confirm.
Registering a car battery for VAG vehicles with the UDS protocol
Plug the device into your car's OBD2 port and connect your smartphone via Bluetooth.
Open the list of control units.
Find the control unit called "Gateway" and click on it.
Choose "Adaptation" > "Battery adaptation."
Fill in all fields with battery capacity, manufacturer, serial number (if you don't know, simply change the last digit), and battery technology. That's it!
Registering a car battery for BMW vehicles
You’ll need:
Credits for activating One-Click Apps
OBDeleven mobile app
Follow these steps:
Plug the device into your car's OBD2 port and connect your smartphone via Bluetooth.
Go to "Apps."
Find the "Battery Type and Capacity".
Select your new battery type or skip this step if your new battery's type and capacity are the same.
In the Apps section, find the "12V Battery Registration" app.
Select "RESET" and slide to confirm.
Learn more
Check out our step-by-step video tutorial on how to change and register your car battery using OBDeleven:
We've also covered battery replacement and registration in detail in this blog post.